There Will Be Times
by JENGEORGE
Summary: Kurt's eighteenth birthday isn't turning out like he thought it would.


_Fantastic. Another Rachel Berry Solo Extravaganza, _thinks Kurt as he lets out a hollow laugh into the now empty choir room. Somethings never change.

Kurt knew he shouldn't be disappointed. He'd known the moment that Mr. Schuester announced solo auditions for Regionals, that his chances were slim. But that hadn't stopped him from putting everything he had into finding just the right song for his voice and hopefully appeasing Schue's hopeless favoritism of the classics.

Kurt was really pleased with his rendition of The Beatles' "For No One". And, sure, it's kind of a sad song, but the words are so filled with emotion it's hard to not be moved by it.

Mr. Schuester had said that he thought it was great but-_sorry Kurt_-in the end chose Rachel's attempt to once again impersonate Barbara Streisand, saying that it would be better for the competition. Whatever.

Kurt knows that if Mercedes were standing here, she'd tell him to stop pouting and to brush it off, and she'd be right, but Kurt's been feeling melancholy and a little sorry for himself all day. It's his eighteenth birthday, and so far, it's not nearly as amazing as the one that he has spent so many years building up in his mind.

Kurt tells himself that it's only a few more months until graduation and he can finally be free of high school-of Lima-and Ohio if he wants, and then all the things he imagines for his life might actually have a shot at coming true.

When Kurt returned to McKinley for his senior year, he certainly didn't expect that suddenly it would be a place full of peace, love, and tolerance. He's not that stupid. And really, it's been better than Kurt ever thought it could be, not that that's saying a whole lot.

Everyone in Glee seems glad to have him back-even if his talent is still under appreciated-and it's nice to be able to share his day with Mercedes again, and he finally feels like he can walk down the hallway without fear of being slammed into the lockers or getting dragged off to the bathroom for a swirly.

But that doesn't mean that suddenly everyone is okay with him being gay. People still look at him funny, and he's all but given up on trying to change in the locker room after gym until everyone has left, as if he'd even _try _to look. But it had been that way even at Dalton. Sure they all _tolerated_ him and the few other gay students there, but it's not the same as being willing to hug him when they made it to Regionals like how they did the other Warblers, or not acting as though he might try to put the moves on someone just because they smiled at him.

As he sits down at the piano to pluck out a few chords, Kurt tells himself he's not wallowing-he's not-he's just really proud of how he sounded today and wants to sing it one more time before he lets it go.

Kurt hears a noise behind him as he pauses to take a breath, and when he stops and looks back, Puck is standing in the middle of the room watching him.

"Sorry, dude. I didn't mean to stop you. I forgot my guitar." Puck looks sheepish and holds up his case as if to prove he didn't come back in just to bother Kurt.

Kurt moves to stand up and says, "Don't worry about it. I'm done here anyway."

"Hey, don't get up. You sounded really good." Puck steps forward and sits down next to Kurt on the bench.

Kurt reminds himself that this is one of the things that has changed. A year ago he would never have believed that he'd one day feel comfortable having Puck this close to him. But he sees Puck these days practically more often than Mercedes, seeing as Puck's always hanging around his house with Finn, raiding the refrigerator, or draped across the couch while he and Finn try to out play each other at Halo. The fact that he's pretty easy to look at doesn't hurt either.

They're not friends, exactly, but Puck's one of the few people who doesn't act like they're going to _catch the gay _from Kurt. He doesn't mind when Kurt joins them for their millionth viewing of _Behind Enemy Lines_, and when he plops down in the space between Kurt and Finn on the couch and he's pressed right up against Kurt all he says is, "You gonna share that popcorn?"

At first Kurt thought maybe he'd been sucked into a parallel universe when he came home from Dalton one night to find Puck with his head stuck in the refrigerator, and when he lifted his head, instead of the slur Kurt was expecting, what Puck said was, "'Sup Hummel? You hungry?" Before he knew it, he was sitting at his kitchen table, eating a grilled cheese sandwich made by Noah Puckerman and hearing about what was going on at McKinley while Finn had run out to pick up a movie.

So having Puck sitting near him is fine, but he is taken aback by the compliment.

"Thanks. I just thought I'd get it out of my system."

"Schue should've given the song to you. It was way better than Berry's." Puck nudges Kurt's shoulder as he adds, "She is so fucking over the top sometimes, I don't get why Schue thinks that's the way to go."

Kurt snorts and says, "Well, Mr. Schuester has never really understood the concept of 'less is more'. But it doesn't matter, I didn't figure I'd get it anyway."

Puck just nods in understanding; it's not like Mr. Schue gives Puck the credit he deserves either, so they just sit there in the quiet for a minute and Kurt's about to get up and put this pity-party behind him when Puck says, "Hey. Hudson told me it's your birthday today. Did Carole make you the Birthday Breakfast?"

"She did. It's the biggest breakfast I've ever eaten." Kurt smiles at the memory of Carole putting a huge plate of heart-shaped pancakes in front of him this morning, a nervous smile on her face.

Kurt's appreciated how she hasn't tried to replace his mom, giving him the time he's needed to get used to having her around. In fact, this morning's gesture was the most mom-like thing Carole has done so far. Kurt hasn't eaten more than an apple or a few bites of toast for breakfast in years, but something in the way Carole looked at him made him want to show her that it was okay, so he loaded up on the syrup and ate like it was his last meal.

"She's been making those pancakes for Finn for as long as I can remember. They're really tasty." Puck pauses for a minute as if recalling a memory before he smiles and says, "She's a pretty awesome mom."

"She is." Kurt resolves to make a point of telling Carole that more often.

Puck reaches for his guitar case and says, "Do you have time to run your song one more time before you go?"

"We're not going out to dinner until six, so I guess so. Why?"

"You know, if I'd known what song you were singing, I'd have offered to accompany you. Brad and the guys are great, but I think your voice would have stood out a little more if you'd gone acoustic." Puck strums a few times to hit the right key and then plays out the first few bars of the song.

"You know the song?"

"Yeah. _Revolver_ is one of my favorite albums. Come on, let me hear you sing it this way."

He doesn't give Kurt a chance to answer before he begins playing again, so Kurt just shrugs and thinks, what the hell, before he starts to sing along.

Puck's right; having just the guitar really changes the feel of the song, and Kurt loves it. Puck jumps in occasionally in harmony and looks right at Kurt while he sings, following every nuance of Kurt's voice, and Kurt is surprised at how good they sound together. When Puck sings, his emotions are written all over his face, and Kurt can't take his eyes off of him, it's so captivating.

As they finish the song, he still can't look away. Puck is looking at Kurt so intensely, so purposefully, and Kurt only has a second to think, _Puck's going to kiss me,_ before he feels the press of Puck's lips against his.

They're surprisingly soft, and Puck seems almost hesitant, like he's afraid Kurt's going to freak out. But freaking out is the last thing on Kurt's mind at the moment, as all his mind can come up with is thoughts like _more_ and _closer_, so he grabs the front of Puck's shirt to pull him forward.

When Kurt feels Puck's hand come up and stroke the back of his neck, he can't help the moan that sneaks out. Kurt's suddenly worried that the noise will startle Puck into remembering just who he's kissing, but Puck only huffs a quiet laugh and uses the opportunity to push his tongue past Kurt 's teeth.

Kurt's mind is whirling at the revelation that Puck _wants_ to be kissing him. He doesn't understand it, but he's not going to let that stop him from enjoying it. In fact, it's taking a lot more self control than Kurt would have thought to not just climb onto Puck's lap and take everything he can get.

All too soon, Puck pulls a way to take a big gulp of air, like he was so busy kissing Kurt that he forgot to breathe. But he's smiling, so it doesn't look like he's about to have a big gay freak-out.

"Damn, Kurt, if I'd known you could kiss like that, I'd have made my move sooner."

Kurt doesn't get the chance to respond before Puck's leaning in for another round, and somewhere in the back of Kurt's mind he's trying to process the fact that Puck has thought about making a move on him _at all, _let alone now, but his mind has other things to worry about, like how to get Puck to make that little groan again, and the way the muscles of Puck's back feel under Kurt's hand.

This time when they pull apart, Puck doesn't say anything, he just cups Kurt's jaw with his hand and runs his thumb over Kurt's lips.

In a fit of daring, Kurt's about to stick his tongue out to taste the pad of Puck's thumb, but just as he parts his lips, the alarm on his phone blares out in the silence.

The spell broken, Puck pulls his hand away, and Kurt briefly mourns the loss of contact before he says, "Shit. I have to get home and get ready for dinner."

Awkwardness seeps into the room as Kurt stands to get his coat and Puck hastily stuffs his guitar back into the case.

Kurt hears Puck stand and start to move, but he doesn't want to turn around and watch Puck walk out the door. So he's surprised when Puck comes up to stand right behind him, warm breath ghosting across his neck and sending a shiver down his spine.

Kurt's frozen to the spot. He doesn't know what to do or what he should say. He knows he doesn't want Puck to walk out that door until he understands what's going on between them, but he doesn't know how to say that or show Puck that he wants more, if Puck wants it too.

So soft that Kurt wouldn't have heard it if he hadn't been listening so intently, he hears Puck whisper, "Happy Birthday, Kurt," and then he feels Puck step away.

By the time Kurt turns around Puck's pulling the door open. Before he can talk himself out of it he calls out, "Puck, wait."

Puck stops and turns around to look at Kurt, one hand still on the doorknob and a guarded expression on his face.

Kurt knows that it's now or never, so, summoning all his courage, he takes a deep breath and asks, "Would you like to come out to dinner with us tonight?"

Puck continues to just look at Kurt, and after a few seconds, panic rushes through Kurt as he thinks that he's gone too far. Making out in an empty classroom is one thing. Asking Puck to be seen with him in public-with his family-is entirely different.

Kurt's about to try to say something-_anything_-to take it back when a look of surprise passes over Puck's face and his mouth curves into a grin.

Puck lets go of the door and takes a step toward Kurt. "Yeah, sure, that sounds cool." Puck's hand comes up to rub the back of his neck and Kurt realizes that he's nervous, like maybe he thought Kurt wouldn't want him.

Relief floods Kurt and in a bold move, he closes the distance between them and fits his mouth to Puck's for a slow, thorough kiss.

"Good," Kurt says when they pull apart.

"I should probably run home and get cleaned up." Puck looks down at his faded jeans and worn out sneakers. "What time should I be over?"

The whole time he's talking, his hands are on Kurt's hips and he's running his fingers over Kurt's hipbones, and the sensation makes Kurt want to do things that will definitely make them late for dinner.

"5:30 should be fine. Can you make it by then?"

Puck leans in and places a quick kiss on the corner of Kurt's mouth before he pulls away completely and says, "I'll be there."

As Kurt watches Puck head out the door, he thinks to himself that this birthday has turned out better than he ever dreamed. 


End file.
